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East Rockhill supervisors authorize settlement that reduces Three Mile Run development, vote to intervene in zoning appeal
Summary
The Board of Supervisors approved a settlement cutting a planned Three Mile Run Road development from 46 townhouses to 24 single-family village-style dwellings and voted to intervene in a related zoning appeal after residents raised density and property-value concerns.
At its June 25 meeting, the East Rockhill Township Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to authorize a settlement agreement with Pennington Property Group, LLC that reduces a previously proposed 46-townhouse subdivision at 809–901 Three Mile Run Road to 24 single-family village-style dwellings and provides for the Township to purchase the development rights. The solicitor said the settlement resolves a 2022 conditional-use matter that had been appealed.
Township Solicitor Will Oetinger described the court-stipulated plan and said final land-development details will be determined during land development review. The board’s authorization included a contingency that the sewer tapping (EDU) fee have an expiration date, a condition discussed during the motion.
Applicant representative Ben Goldthorp told the board a land-development plan would be filed within nine months, which he said would alleviate concerns tied to the Sewer EDU fee. Supervisors approved the authorization on a motion by Supervisor Jim Nietupski, seconded by Supervisor Gary Volovnik; with no further discussion, all present voted in favor.
The settlement prompted substantial public comment. Several nearby residents objected to the Zoning Hearing Board’s earlier granting of variances for a separate nonconforming lot on East Rock Road (Bucks County Tax Map Parcel 12-011-033-005) and urged the board to take a position. Residents said the comprehensive plan favors lower density and argued hardship had not been proven; some said a new house would lower neighborhood property values. Robert Napor and other neighbors cited the 2020 Comprehensive Plan in opposing the decisions, and speakers described concerns about lot sizes and the scale of proposed dwellings.
After an executive-session consultation with the township solicitor, the board voted unanimously to file a Notice of Intervention in the land-use appeal on behalf of the objectors. The case provided to the board was titled Beverly Girgenti vs. East Rockhill Township Zoning Hearing Board and Roger and Patti Jones.
The board recorded no dissent during the motions. Next steps are the submission of a land-development plan by the applicant and the pending land-use appeal in the Court of Common Pleas; the board’s intervention provides the township an opportunity to present its position in that court proceeding.
